


Our Promised Land

by MangaFreak15



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Dragon!Mikasa, Knight!Levi, M/M, lots of f-bombs courtesy of Levi, magic is an art but cursebreaking is a science, non-binary Hanji Zoe, squad shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-02 07:23:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14539593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MangaFreak15/pseuds/MangaFreak15
Summary: When tales of the tower-dwelling princess and her fearsome dragon guard reaches Prince Erwin's ears, he sends Levi and Hanji to investigate. The Legion Knights are about to find out the truth.In which Levi is a reluctant knight, Hanji is a famous cursebreaker, Mikasa is a jealous dragon, and Eren is a snarky prince(ss).





	1. Into the Looking Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Levi Squad finds a castle and is in for a surprise (or three).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was very close to just calling this 'A Gay Fairytale', ahaha.
> 
> I realize that my writing can sometimes be a little over-the-top descriptive, but please give this a chance! :)
> 
> Also halfway through writing this, I realized nobody is wearing a helmet, lol silly me. Pretend there's no helmets because Levi said so ;)

Levi wiped the sweat from his face with a grimace, dunking his handkerchief into the cool current of the stream in front of him. He wrung the cloth out and pressed it to his face again, reveling in the blessed chilly sensation. On either side of him, his companions did the same.

The cold water was a source of great relief for the Royal Legion Knight and his squad, having spent the greater part of the day riding up the steep inclines of lush Mount Maria, home to an abundance of wildlife and rare species of plants. Supposedly there was a grand old castle at the very peak of the mountain that, if certain legends were to be believed, was guarded by a fierce dragon so gargantuan that it could slay whole armies with a single swipe of its deadly claws.

Levi called bullshit on that one. A dragon that big would easily be seen from afar with the naked eye. He had seen neither hair nor hide of such a beast the entire way up the mountain.

Alas, the whole reason his Special Operations Squad was out in the middle of fucking nowhere was because Prince Erwin had thought the legends of Mount Maria to be particularly interesting and ought to be investigated. Hence why they were sweating like pigs by the river during their first real break in _hours._

The Legion Knights’ custom chainmail was made of a durable, lightweight steel alloy for easy movement and was also heavily enchanted with physical and elemental protection spells, especially strengthened resistance to fire. But all those protections meant nothing under the unrelenting gaze of the sun. Even their horses were feeling the effects of such an arduous upwards trek.

Levi splashed cold river water on his face a few extra times for good measure before he moved to unfasten his chainmail.

“OOOOHHH, LEVI! COME LOOK AT THIS!” An excited shriek rang out from somewhere in the trees. The dark-haired knight sighed in irritation at the interruption and heaved himself to his feet.

“What the fuck do you want, shitty four-eyes?!” he yelled, reluctantly stomping away from the river. The other reason Levi hated this mission: he had to endure close proximity to their crazy resident cursebreaker, Hanji Zoe. Someone who he could barely tolerate on a good day, and utterly loathed on a bad one.

Today was turning out to be an all-around craptastic day.

Hanji was standing on top of a large rock just barely outside of the range of the trees, using their black binoculars to view something off in the distance. Levi chanced a glance himself, but surprise surprise, he couldn’t see shit other than trees, trees, and oh, did he mention more _trees_ —wait. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. He climbed on the rock next to the excited cursebreaker, who was practically vibrating in their leather boots.

“Levi!” they chirped a greeting at him, a maniacal smile overtaking half their face. “I’ve found it! The way to the castle!”

“Give me that,” he muttered, snatching the binoculars from their grasp and searching for a glimpse of their destination. He zoomed in as best he could on the tiny gray speck that he’d seen earlier, nearly invisible among the rolling wisps of thick fog enshrouding the tallest peak of the mountain. After a few moments, it was clear that what he was looking at was part of an old stone bridge, which presumably led somewhere into the fog and most likely to the castle in the legends.

He handed the binoculars back. “The stone bridge, yeah? We’ll move out in an hour,” he said, climbing back down to the ground. Levi intended to make full use of the hour to rid himself and his chainmail of as much sweat and grime as he could. He felt fucking disgusting.

When he returned to the river, the other members of his squad were thoroughly enjoying the break in the welcomed shade of the forest trees. All of them had stripped off their own chainmail and were in the process of cleaning them. Levi was pleased.

He settled down into his previous spot, reaching up to unfasten the many belts and buckles that held up his armor. He heavily disliked the feeling of his gray tunic sticking to him like a second skin, but the fabric would take too long to dry even in the sun, so he would unfortunately have to bear with it.

Once everyone had washed their armor and set the pieces aside in patches of sunlight to dry, Levi directly addressed his squad with the next plan of action, “Hanji and I spotted a stone bridge somewhere up ahead, and it probably leads to this stupid fucking castle that we're looking for. You should all be prepared because who knows what the hell lies beyond the fog. That shit's unnatural.”

The squad didn't even blink at his crude speech, having spent years in close proximity with the foul-mouthed knight.

“Eat something, we’ll suit up in fifteen,” he grunted, walking over to his horse and digging through one of the saddlebags.

“Yes, sir!” the squad members chimed in unison, dispersing to their own horses.

“Erd, hand me the map. I need to check our route.”

The tall blond man dutifully handed over the large bound scroll secured with a thin leather strap. Levi took the map and walked a little distance away to study it. He traced the winding outline of the upwards trail they’d been using to get up the mountain, thinking that the old stone bridge that he’d seen through the binoculars must be somewhere north-east of their current position. The map itself didn’t use any markings to indicate the vast fog blanketing Mount Maria’s tallest peak, which made finding a suitable route to the bridge a bit more difficult, but not impossible.

Hanji rejoined them a moment later, muttering under their breath and scribbling madly into their small notebook, a devilish grin stretching from ear to ear. The Levi Squad wisely gave them space.

Levi was itching to brew himself a quality cup of black tea, but _somehow,_ he had misplaced his can of tea leaves. It was all that shitty four eyes’ fault, he just knew it. He didn’t just forget where he put all his important crap. Hanji vehemently denied the allegations. Levi was sure none of his squad members had done it, because he had hand picked them himself and nobody was ballsy enough to touch his things. Thus that left Hanji as the only possible culprit.

In the end, nobody could find the little container of tea leaves. So Levi was in an even fouler mood than usual when they finally set off, being sweaty, dirty, and bereft of his tea.

The trip to the bridge was thankfully easier on them than the initial journey from the base of Mount Maria. They mostly rode beneath the canopy of the towering trees instead of out under the blazing sun.

Auruo whistled when they emerged from the treeline directly in front of the stone bridge. “Now that’s some fog,” he remarked, craning his neck to see how far up the fog went.

“You can’t even see anything behind it,” Petra agreed.

Levi scowled at the fog, grip tightening slightly on his horse’s reins. It was unknown territory beyond this point. He hated going into situations almost completely blind—there were so many things that could go wrong in the blink of an eye. He observed the structure of the old stone bridge, finding that it appeared to be structurally sound despite the worn, aged look of the rocks used in its construction. It was a type of arch bridge, spanning the width of the deep gorge between the side of the mountain they were on and the tallest peak. The natural cliffs acted as the bridge’s abutments. Roughly halfway across, the first wisps of mysterious fog drifted past the stones. The rest of its body was completely concealed from view.

The knight huffed and turned to gauge Hanji’s reaction now that they were actually closer to their destination, and found them surprisingly serious. Their lips were pursed in an uncharacteristic frown.

A serious Hanji usually meant bad news.

They urged their horse closer to the crumbling stone arch that served as an open gateway to the bridge, pausing just before it. The animal pawed nervously at the soil, whinnying softly. Hanji leaned over to examine the weather-beaten arch, eyes narrowed in concentration.

“What is it, Hanji?” Levi spoke up, drawing up next to them on his own horse. “There’s something dangerous about the fog, isn’t there?” He tried to figure out what they were looking at. He realized that there was a set of faded inscriptions etched in vertical columns down the face of the arch, but for the life of him, he couldn’t read it.

Hanji managed to tear their eyes away from the sight long enough to say, “There’s a nasty curse on this place. It’s… it’s stronger than any other curse I’ve ever seen in my whole life.”

That sent chills down Levi’s spine. A curse that even Hanji had never seen before? What kind of fucked-up place did Erwin send them to?

The famous cursebreaker got off their horse. “I need to take a look at these inscriptions before we venture inside. To be on the safe side, of course,” they explained, pulling out a notebook, a magnifying glass, and a couple of other unfamiliar instruments from one of their supply bags. “You should rest up in the meantime. We've got a big task ahead of us.”

Levi knew not to argue with them when they were in this mood. He turned to look over his shoulder at the waiting members of his squad. “We’ll be taking a break here while Hanji studies the arch. Says there's a curse on this place, might as well make sure we're as safe so our asses don't get dropped if something goes fucked up,” he said. He coaxed his horse around and rode back to the waiting shade of the trees. His squad saluted him and followed suit.

Hanji periodically muttered and scribbled in their notebook, the strange instruments whirling and making weird clicking noises as they circled around her head. One of them, an elliptical mirror-like device with four tiny needles magnetized to its sides, zoomed to the inscriptions, reflecting fractured light patterns across the weathered stone. The needles spun in a slow circle.

They were probably going to be there for a while. Levi secured his horse to a tree and climbed up to a higher branch. He figured he might as well try to get the lay of the land from a higher vantage point instead of relying solely on the map. The rest of his squad sprawled lazily in the shade, talking quietly amongst themselves and munching on the field ration bars provided to them by headquarters.

From the top of the tree, Levi still couldn’t see past the fog. The way it kept circling the peak, completely untouched by the sun, was definitely not natural. Was it part of the curse that Hanji talked about? He surveyed the area below the stone bridge. The gorge was fairly deep, but there was a small stream at the bottom that twisted past a series of spiky rocks jutting out of the mud next to the stone pillars. Nothing that really spoke of the supposed presence of a castle, besides the bridge itself.

He squinted at the peak. Nope, nothing there either. Fuck if this wasn’t turning out to be the most ridiculous mission he had ever been on. Erwin better give him a pay raise for doing this shit.

A shrill whistle caught his attention. Hanji waved at him from their position, jabbing at the stone arch several times with a grin. They had figured something out and could proceed with the mission. Levi quickly shimmied back down the tree.

The cursebreaker was practically vibrating right out of their skin when he jogged up to them. “Spill,” Levi said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Hanji cackled as they opened their notebook, “So impatient, Levi!”

“And you look like you’re about to shit your pants from excitement,” Levi sniped back, rolling his eyes at them. “Hurry up and tell me so we can get this fucking charade over and done with.”

“Yes, yes, I’m getting there, calm your tits,” Hanji said, completely ignoring Levi’s thorny remarks. Levi scoffed at them. They flipped to one of the pages and cleared their throat, adopting a more serious expression. “According to what I could decipher from the inscriptions, this bridge and its gates are meant to function as the connection to something referred to as ‘the Promised Land: Paradis,’ a place of peace and resources abound. Assuming that the castle of legends we’re looking for is the Promised Land, I believe that the ruling lord wished to isolate his people away from war and potential famine. There aren’t any dates that I could make out, but that’s what I could glean from this passage: ‘With this blood offered unto Mother Earth, we the royal tribe of Shiganshina shall carve the oath into our hearts, that no war shall pass our borders, no more bloodshed shall thusly be spilt on our soil, no family shall starve in the name of the Goddess Maria, and no child shall lack an education under the name of his Most Honorable Majesty King Fritz. So shall it be.’ Surprisingly, that’s the most intact inscription on these gates. There’s a lot that can be inferred here. First of all, did you know that Mount Maria takes its name from the old goddess Maria, who—”

“Fuck, Hanji, just get to the point!” Levi barked, raising a hand to stop the absolute tidal wave of sheer word vomit that spewed from the cursebreaker’s mouth.

“Party pooper,” Hanji pouted, adjusting their glasses. Levi glared at them, which they waved off without flinching. “Fine, I get it. Anyways, to sum it all up, the fog you see up ahead is actually a magical barrier cast by the oath-takers who built this bridge. It won’t let in any intruders that mean harm. The curse I mentioned isn’t tied to the bridge, it’s most likely anchored to the castle itself, which means that I won’t be able to decipher and break it until we get past the fog and find the castle. The inscriptions on the gate don’t mention anything about a dragon, so—”

 _“So,”_ Levi interrupted, unwilling to listen to another barrage of word vomit, “basically we get past the fog, find the damn castle, break whatever curse is holding onto this place, and hope that we don’t run into a shitty fire-breathing lizard and become its lunch. Great, let’s get a move on.”

Hanji whined about him stealing their thunder as he moved back to the squad resting beneath the shade of the trees. Like he gave a shit. He wanted to get this mission over with so he could go the fuck home to his nice, warm, _clean_ apartment instead of running around in this thrice-damned wilderness like a savage.

The four Legion Knights stopped talking when he approached. They were instantly on their feet. “Hanji’s done, we’re moving out,” he said, getting on his horse. “Stay on your guard, we don’t know what’s beyond the fog.”

“Yes, sir!” they saluted.

Levi cautiously led his horse past the looming archway, followed by Hanji and the others. When nothing happened, they relaxed a fraction and continued onward towards the fog.

The horses snorted nervously when the first wisps of fog drifted across their hooves. Hanji leaned over to whisper to Levi about something he could care less about, something about horses being intelligent animals that could feel the effects of curses. So long as his horse didn’t bolt the fuck out of there and leave him stranded, Levi was perfectly fine with them being a little jumpy. Hell, he was feeling a bit paranoid at the reduced visibility.

“Stay close,” he called to his squad.

They entered the fog. Everyone was tensed and wary for any sign of danger, any hint that something bad was about to befall them.

Aside from feeling the cool mist brushing over their exposed skin and not being able to see where the bridge ended, nothing seemed to occur. For a barrier intended to keep intruders out, it didn’t seem to be doing its job. Maybe it was old? No, Levi suddenly recalled the little tidbit about the barrier only meant to keep out invaders that meant harm. It was true that their only real purpose was reconnaissance; they were meant to ascertain whether the legends about the castle of Mount Maria were true or not.

Levi shivered as some of the wisps seemed to reach up and caress him, chilling him through his chainmail. He strained his ears trying to hear the litany of indecipherable voices echoing around him. Sometimes he thought he could see shadows out of the corners of his eyes, but whenever he turned to look, he would only see the grim faces of his companions. This place was creepy as fuck and he seriously contemplated turning around and leaving, mission be damned. Erwin could come and investigate himself if he wanted to know the truth so badly.

Just when he thought he couldn’t stand it anymore, an incredibly loud _gooonnnggg!_ rang out, making everyone jump in their saddles. A single toll of a bell bellowed from out of nowhere, as if it was acknowledging their passage. And just like that, the fog vanished.

It took a long moment for their eyes to readjust to the sunlight after being in the fog, but when they did, their jaws dropped at the gorgeous scenery before them.

There was a castle at the peak, alright. And it was fucking enormous. There were few things in life that could truly surprise Levi, but this was definitely one of them. A winding dirt path dotted with trees led from the stone bridge up to an open courtyard roughly fifty meters in front of them, made from polished cobblestone. Large marble pillars were strategically placed around the courtyard, crawling with thorny vines and blood-red roses blooming large and bright. A fountain bubbled merrily at the center, a large half-naked female statue in a toga delicately posing as the fountain’s eye-catching central piece. A crown of flowers decorated her head, hair carved into a meticulous braided bun at the back.

“That’s the goddess Maria!” Hanji murmured beneath their breath.

Beyond the courtyard was an incredibly colorful garden, filled to the brim with all sorts of exotic flowers intermingling with their more common family members. The hedges were trimmed to perfection, several white gazebos with plush seating dotting the gardenscape. A clear path cut through the swathes of plants, inviting people to take a delightful stroll into its depths. Levi thought he could spend an entire lifetime studying the flowers and still not get to all of them. Hanji was absolutely vibrating in their saddle, itching to explore this strange new beautiful world suddenly available to them.

The most impressive sight had to be the castle itself. Towering so high that its many spires and turrets seemed to touch the sky, the castle radiated a commanding presence. It looked to be constructed from a combination of white marble, bricks, and stucco. Various banners, all depicting the sideways profile of the goddess Maria, streamed down the sides of the castles, covering the walls in a fluttery wave of blues, greens, reds, and golds. The huge double doors that led into the castle’s foyer were made of a deep, rich cherry oak, carved with a draconic pattern and etched with more words. Directly above the doors was a beautiful stained glass window, depicting the goddess Maria with a baby in her arms. A large balcony spanning the length of the entire frontmost castle wall, presumably where the ruling lord could make announcements, overlooked the garden.

Levi motioned for them to stop before entering the courtyard. He dismounted his horse, securing the reins to a nearby tree. The others did the same.

Hanji had whipped out their notebook and was jotting things down so quickly that their hand looked like a blur. Gunther muttered something about how his family would love the garden here, Erd and Petra agreeing as they stared wide-eyed at the sheer majesticness that the entire place seemed to ooze. Auruo scoffed and tried to act cool about the situation while he swaggered up the path, but ended up stumbling when his boot hit a loose stone and he bit his tongue. The other squad members sniggered at his misfortune.

The knight shook his head at their antics. “Let’s go,” he commanded, striding forward. They had successfully passed through the mystical fog barrier and confirmed the presence of the castle in the legends. Now, to find this supposed ‘princess’ in the ivory tower and her guardian dragon.

They were halfway through the garden when they heard it, a sound that made everyone freeze in their tracks, hair standing on end.

Faintly, distantly—a dragon’s roar.

Hands flew to their swords, everyone on the lookout for the new threat. Levi examined the towering structure of the castle, trying to calculate which direction the roar came from and approximately how far away the beast was. Without a word, his squad shifted and formed a circle with him, entrusting each other with their backs. Hanji was armed with just a simple bo staff compared to the rest of the knights, but it was made of a special carbon alloy that increased its durability and they could wield it with as much deadly flair as the knights with their swords. There was no one here who was helpless.

The seconds ticked by agonizingly slow as they waited with bated breaths.

When no other roars sounded and no attacks came from the sky, they relaxed slightly. “Well, now we know there’s a dragon around here somewhere,” Levi muttered, carefully treading along the rest of the dirt path leading up to the great castle doors. “Petra, cast a spell to muffle our presence before we move inside.”

“Roger,” the female knight replied, her eyes fixed on the draconic designs decorating the huge double doors.

They managed to reach the castle entrance without further incident. Petra unsheathed her sword, which, unlike the other knights’ swords, had a round pommel at the end of the hilt used for conducting magic. She drove the blade into the earth, motioning for her companions to stand in a circle around her. Then she put her hands together over the coral-colored pommel and began to chant.

Levi could feel a thin, invisible haze settle over him, reducing the amount of noise made by his chainmail and dulling his presence. He could still feel the others around him, but they felt muted.

When Petra was done, she took up her sword and flung off the soil with a single, clean sweep. She inspected the blade for any remaining dirt. Finding none, she sheathed the sword and gave Levi a sharp nod.

“Let’s go,” Levi said, trudging up the stone stairs to the doors.

Up close, the intricate carvings on the doors were even more beautiful. Swirling dragons intertwined, soaring through stylized drifting clouds with their elegant, sinuous bodies. On the left door, the goddess Maria floated between them, one hand raised to gently caress the underside of one dragon’s slim jaw. Blossoming flowers bloomed along the edges, curling vines intersecting and mingling with the thin, spiky tails of the dragons. On the right door, a majestic king held out a hand, the same flowers decorating the edges, but with a single large dragon curled devilishly around him, great bat-like wings unfurled over their heads. Peasants bowed at their feet in reverence.

It was gorgeous in detail, but also the tackiest thing Levi had ever seen. _Rich people_ , he scoffed in his mind.

“Ready?” he asked, placing one hand on the doors’ brass handles. When everyone nodded, he grabbed the handle and pushed the right door open. It was unsurprisingly heavy and strangely not locked. As if the castle was inviting them in.

The open door spilled bright sunlight into the dark and dusty entrance hall. Levi was immediately disgusted by all the filth clinging to every nook and cranny in the stuffy room. A single step in made a puff of dust rise up from his boot impacting the floor. The entire squad looked at him when he gave an involuntary full-body shudder, like they knew exactly how hard he was resisting the urge to clean this absolute shithole from top to bottom before he went anywhere else.

“Petra, give us a light,” he ground out, hands clenched so tightly into fists that his knuckles turned white.

“On it, Captain,” the redhead replied, lifting her sword up again. The coral-pink pommel glowed for a second, then two small orange lights about the size of Erd’s fists bobbed into existence. Petra directed the lights to show the way for Levi, one on each side to illuminate the space in front of and around their commander.

Of course, the presence of light brought new things to attention. Levi felt an aneurysm coming on when he saw how many cobwebs, old and new, decorated the faded furniture and the high, vaulted ceilings.

“Captain Levi, there's something unusual up ahead,” Gunther announced, snapping him out of his filth-induced rage.

The Royal Knight walked forward, the lights moving with him. Their bright orange glow illuminated some sort of enormous crystal sitting on the platform just above the first set of stairs. Smaller branches of crystallized material snaked out from the top and bottom of the thing, attaching themselves to the floor and ceiling and keeping the semi-transparent crystal in place. There was a dark blob inside that he couldn't quite make out.

Levi slowly approached it, eyes narrowed. Closer inspection revealed there to be a man inside the crystal. It was an older man with shoulder-length black hair and a trim mustache, a small patch of stubble decorating his chin. A pair of round, wire-framed glasses perched on his slightly-hooked nose. He was clad in a maroon tailcoat trimmed with gold, a white cravat tucked neatly over his throat, and he had white gloves over his hands. The man’s eyes were closed, but he almost looked as if he was in the middle of bowing when he was encased inside the crystal—one hand laid over his breast, one slightly behind his back, torso bent forward at an upwards angle.

The most suspicious thing was that, despite the horrendous state of the rest of the entrance hall, the crystal didn’t have a single speck of dust on it.

Even when he was standing a mere three feet away from it, Levi could feel a soft, strange hum emanating from the crystal. With that in mind, he definitely wasn’t going to touch it; there was very likely a spell or curse laid on the surface of the crystal itself. He could tell Hanji to look at it—and he knew that they would be salivating over this chance to do some research on something so extraordinary—but they needed to move on.

He heard Hanji creep up behind him. _“No,”_ he growled, spinning on his heel and spitting out a solid rejection before they could even ask their question.

“Buuuut Leeeeviiiii,” they wailed, flailing their arms and sending more dust everywhere. Levi made a revolted noise before he sneezed. “Think about the opportunity here! For research! For science!”

“I don’t give two fucks about your crappy _science,”_ the Royal Knight rasped, sneezing two more times for good measure. Ugh, this was getting fucking ridiculous, he was getting out of here before he suffocated from all the filth clogging the stale air. He strode as quickly down the stairs as he could, looking for another way into the inner areas of the castle, and studiously ignored Hanji’s loud whines come from behind him.

“But Levi! Levi! Levi!! Come on, pleeeeeaseee? Levi? Levi?! But my reseeeearch—"

“No, damn it, _no!_ Fuck off!” he snapped, turning his head to direct the most fearsome glare he could muster at them. “Fuck you. Fuck your research. Fuck this stupid mission. And fuck this shitfest of a castle, I’m leaving. You can stay in this cesspool of crap if that’s what you fucking want, but I’m not waiting around for you in this vermin-infested dump.” He strode off without another word.

Despite Hanji’s complaining, they didn’t stop to examine the crystal further. They followed after him with an exaggerated pout, the other four Legion Knights giving them amused looks from behind them.

The lights bobbed along close to Levi’s head, revealing a large, equally-dusty hallway that led into the interior of the castle. The knight inwardly prayed that there would be a cleaner area up ahead. He really didn’t want to slog around in a filthy castle for days. Half of him wanted to just give up the mission and get the fuck out of here, but he would never be able to live down the disappointed look Erwin would give him if he did that. He owed Erwin too much for that.

The hallway didn’t have much in it besides several moth-eaten tapestries and a broken chandelier. Levi paused once when he thought he heard something hissing, but nothing was there.

Thankfully the journey through the hall wasn’t very long. It finally gave way to a brighter, more open courtyard in the center of the castle walls. It was large and square and made of stone, perfect for sparring or holding duels between knights. At the far end of the courtyard, slightly raised above the ground, was a single platform holding a dilapidated old throne. It looked like it was once a beautiful, ornate chair, boldly painted with royal colors and made with the finest wood and plush cushions. Now it was falling apart, colors washed out with the exposure to sunlight, and the cushion was completely shredded.

“Captain Levi!” Auruo’s voice rang out, slightly alarmed. “Look at this!”

He looked. There, at his subordinate’s feet, was a large, black scorch mark that he could’ve kicked himself for missing at first glance. As he surveyed the rest of the courtyard, he realized there were other scorch marks around, along with another set of worrying marks: thin grooves raked across the stones, resembling the claw marks from a very big and dangerous beast.

The dragon was here.

Levi walked the length of the courtyard, inwardly counting the number of scorch marks and claw markings on the stones. There weren’t a lot, but enough to be concerned. He could hear Hanji talking to themself as they examined the marks. Erd and Gunther had put their heads together to discuss the biggest set of slashes, while Petra and Auruo were kneeling over the initial scorched stones that they had seen.

The Royal Knight looked up and saw a couple of the towers rising up just beyond the western wall. They knew there was a dragon here, but what about the prin—

“LEVI, LOOK OUT!”

Levi’s body reacted before he could think. He immediately threw himself to the side, just in time to escape the searing hot gout of flame that burned straight through the air where his head had been a split second ago. He rolled to his feet in a flash, drawing his sword from its sheath.

The squad had joined up with him, Hanji bearing their bo staff in a defensive stance. The other knights had also drawn their swords, readying themselves for another attack. Erd’s broadsword glinted dangerously in the light. The coral-pink pommel of Petra’s sword glowing darkly with aggressive magical intent. But Levi’s attention wasn’t on them.

His eyes were locked on the large, sinuous body slinking over the roof, its bony wings half-arched over its serpentine body. It was almost entirely pitch-black, with some mottled red scales around the base of its neck, its shoulders, and its sweeping, whip-like tail. Its four limbs were long and slender, but packed with muscles that rippled beneath its charcoal scales. Each foot was tipped with four wicked claws, curved ivory weapons perfect for tearing its prey to pieces. Its eyes were an iridescent silvery color, narrow slit pupils focused on the humans in its territory. Its long jaws were studded with tiny ridges and spikes, a deadly pair of horns twisting into the air from either side of its elongated head. It let out a loud, threatening roar, showing off its sharp, serrated teeth in the process.

Levi bared his teeth in a mocking grin, “Fucking finally, you overgrown piece of shit lizard. Let’s get this over with so I can fucking leave this place.” He pointed the tip of his shining steel claymore at the dragon’s snarling face, drawling, “Ready or not—”

The dragon screeched in offense, rearing back to spit out another deadly jet of flame.

Levi’s eyes flashed challengingly, _“—here I come.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment before you go~


	2. The Tower Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The brutal fight between the dragon and the Levi Squad drags the tower-dweller out of their hiding place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I first started writing this chapter, I thought to myself, 'hey I'm not that great at battles, this'll be quick.'
> 
> 3000 words later... 'okay I need to stop, this is getting out of hand'
> 
> I wanted to post this yesterday for my birthday, but I ended up not finishing it till today. Comments and kudos are welcome, they'll make me feel better about the horrible week I had at work last week (who the hell wants to stay an hour overtime at work because the next supervisor in charge showed up 50 mins late?)
> 
> Please enjoy! :)

Levi leaped out of the way as the next fiery breath gushed out of the dragon’s mouth, bathing the gray stones of the courtyard in a wave of orange flames. Thanks to the fire-resistant charms spelled onto his armor, he barely felt the heat. He rebounded off the nearest pillar and used his claymore to catapult himself to the roof.

Beneath him, his squad scattered. Petra put some distance between herself and the raging beast, holding the pommel of her sword to eye level and beginning to chant the incantation for a water spell. When the dragon snapped its jaws shut and swung its head in Levi’s direction, she grasped the hilt of her sword, pulled her arm slightly behind her, then swung the sword pommel-first in the dragon’s direction. A roaring funnel of water blasted from her sword and hit the mythical beast directly in the face.

The dragon shrieked at the attack, twisting its long, flexible body out of the way. It attempted to combat the powerful water spell by exhaling another jet of flame, vaporizing some of the liquid and turning their surroundings into hot, humid steam.

Levi heard a quiet clink as he dropped low to the roof to evade notice. That was the sound of Auruo snapping the two ends of his double-bladed sword together. The Royal Knight crawled slowly over the roof, ears strained for the scrape of scales across tile.

He saw a brief flash of yellow as Petra used the Invisible Step spell somewhere to his left, presumably to aid the others in getting on top of the roof.

Clearly the dragon lacked patience, because the next moment a violent gust of wind battered at him from above. The dragon’s bony black wings were fully open, flapping powerfully to blow away all the vapor hanging in the air. It took all of Levi’s considerable strength to grip tightly to the roof and not let himself get flung off along with the steam. Auruo and Erd barely managed to hang on by plunging Erd’s broadsword through the roof tiles and using it as a shield.

Finally the dragon’s wings stilled and it resumed its threatening growling. Its silvery eyes darted back and forth between Levi, who leaped back to an upright position, and the other two knights, who were brandishing their own weapons in front of them. Auruo gave a quick twirl of his double-bladed sword.

Because they were focused on keeping its attention on them, the dragon failed to notice Hanji and Gunther creeping up behind it. As the cursebreaker moved to pin down the dragon’s thin tail, Gunther attempted to shank it by attacking its leg with his longsword. To their dismay, the blade’s keen edge simply bounced off the dragon’s tough black scales.

In an instant, the dragon used its tail to fling both of them from the roof. Hanji managed to get their bearings in time to use their bo staff to avoid a full-on collision with the ground, but Gunther wasn’t as lucky. The dark-skinned knight crashed into one of the stone pillars, a pained grunt escaping him upon impact.

“Gunther!” Petra cried out. She ran in his direction, the coral pommel of her sword glowing green with the beginnings of a healing spell. The knight pulled himself up and held up a hand to stop her.

“I’m fine, Petra. Make sure you keep supporting the captain!” Gunther said, hissing between his teeth as he scrambled to his feet.

Up above, Levi let out an annoyed sound. “Tch. That tail’s gonna be a bitch to deal with,” he grumbled, eyeing the thrashing appendage. It was long, whip-like, and incredibly flexible. The few spikes jutting out from the end would definitely hurt if they got hit with them.

“Your orders, Captain Levi?” Erd said, holding his broadsword steady.

The gears were turning in Levi’s head as he traced the different paths he could take to get around the dragon despite its extra appendages. “Auruo, Erd, you two distract it. Get Petra to put me in Stealth Mode, I’ll take the long way around. And tell Gunther to haul ass before he becomes fucking fire lizard food.”

“Yes, sir!” Auruo dropped off the edge of the roof to get to Petra and Gunther while Erd inched closer to the angry beast, his solid stance as unwavering as his determination.

The dragon bellowed angrily at what it perceived as a challenge. Its wings arched over its back again, great and black and hanging menacingly in the air like a great storm cloud. The men tensed, thinking it was about to take flight.

Instead, it beat its wings once to get a bit of lift before it  _ pounced _ on them, claws striking forward at a frightening speed. Erd let out a surprised shout as it knocked him off balance. He nearly rolled off the roof, but Gunther shot past him from the ground and tugged him back to his feet. Auruo vaulted back up to the roof with his double-bladed sword, teeth bared in the beginnings of a snarl.

“Shit, that’s one fast motherfucking dragon,” he remarked, clutching the handle of his sword tightly.

Levi had flattened himself to the roof so that the claws sailed harmlessly overhead. The dragon skidded to a stop just before it hit the edge, twisting itself backwards with incredible speed. Its tail slapped the roof tiles in agitation over not killing its prey. It inhaled again—

—but then let out a pained screech as Hanji rocketed up from the side and landed a solid blow to its left eye with their bo staff. It shook its head, momentarily disoriented. Hanji didn’t waste a single second getting out of its range before it attempted to eat them. The dragon’s long jaws snapped closed on air, and it glared furiously at the little group of defiant humans, one eye swollen shut, the other bleeding red in rage.

Petra flew up to the roof herself, albeit much further away than everyone else. She slammed her sword down and shouted the last word of her chant, cloaking Levi in a powerful, notice-me-not shroud that rendered him invisible and untraceable to everyone except the caster. She panted a little at the effort, her hand shaking slightly as she gripped her sword. Levi sent her a pointed look, gesturing to the pouch that she kept around her waist.

The redhead nodded. She flipped the lid of the pouch open and dug out a small square bar. It was gone in two bites, neatly replenishing her magical reserves. She hung back at a safe distance to allow her energy to recover, using her sword as a partial shield in case an attack came her way while she was resting.

The dragon’s tail lashed out in anger. It broke several roof tiles, and used the tip of its tail to sling the broken pieces at the waiting knights. Both Gunther and Auruo ducked out of the way, while Erd blocked the debris with his broadsword. Hanji spun their bo staff defensively in front of them, deflecting any pieces that came flying their way.

In the meantime, Levi swung himself to one of the ramparts and settled down to observe the dragon’s attack patterns. He needed to wait for an opening before he could strike. Its left side had a new blind spot thanks to Hanji’s attack, so he would definitely be using that to his advantage. The biggest obstacles had to be its keen sense of smell and that damn whipcord of a tail. His eyes trailed along the rampart thoughtfully.

Thwarted in its attack, the dragon squatted low so that its belly hit the roof. It hissed menacingly, its single working eye now colored a deep scarlet from the force of its anger. Tiny hairlines of crimson began to run through its horns, coalescing at the bases. The small flaps that lined the dragon's spine popped open, glowing a bright vermillion color. The thin membranes of its wings also began to bleed red, giving it a horrific, demonic, otherworldly appearance.

Petra reacted to the transformation by blasting another water spout at it.

This time it was prepared for the attack, though. Instead of countering it with a jet of flames, the dragon undulated its body in such a way that it twisted around the water spout, unaffected by the tiny drops of water flung from the sides of the torrent. It opened its mouth and fired off a rapid succession of five fireballs, each one like a mini inferno with a glowing white center.

The knights dove to the side, dodging what was essentially a shower of plasma balls. The fireballs blitzed the roof, each one exploding with the force of a bomb, shattering the tiles as well as the stone foundation beneath. The walls of the castle quaked, sending everyone sliding off back into the courtyard below with shouts of alarm. A thick column of smoke rose up, obscuring the courtyard from view.

Levi hunkered down in the rampart, furiously attempting to think of a plan. This dragon was fucking nuts! Out of all the missions he’d ever been sent on, this was the first one where a creature had fought back so viciously against him and his squad. It seemed their usual approach wouldn’t work.

The dragon howled loudly. It crawled along the ruined rooftop, snorting smoke from its flared nostrils. Its single red eye scanned the surroundings for any sign of its enemies. Its red and black wings fluttered above its back, casting shadows over the roof.

Levi reversed his grip on his steel claymore, quickly and stealthily making his way along the stone rampart back to the roof behind the dragon. He was fairly certain that he'd be able to dodge or block the tail if it came swinging his way by accident, but if he got hit, Stealth Mode would wear off and the dragon would be alerted to his presence again. He needed to avoid that if they were to best the beast.

The dragon’s head shot up, its uninjured eye narrowed intently at the dissipating smoke. Levi froze in his position, ears strained for some kind of noise or other indication that none of his team had died or been badly injured by the last attack. A heartbeat of silence, then through the smoke came a loud and annoying voice that Levi never thought he’d be so glad to hear, “Ow, shit! Erd, that was my  _ foot!” _

He couldn’t make out the blond man’s reply, but the apologetic tone said it all. A gust of wind stirred up in the courtyard, blowing all the remaining smoke upwards into the sky, and Levi was greeted with the welcome sight of his squad still alive and kicking, albeit looking slightly scuffed up from their fall from the roof.

Hanji was prodding Erd in the shoulder with the tip of their bo staff, a teasing frown on their face as they gestured at one of their leather boots. The blonde was holding up one hand placatingly, the other loosely gripped around the hilt of his broadsword.

Auruo sniffed at them, “Now isn’t the time to be worrying about your stupid shoes, cursebreaker. We should be focusing on that fucking thing.” He inclined his head towards the enraged dragon, which seemed to be gearing up to fire another volley of deadly fireballs.

Petra lightly smacked him over the head with the pommel of her sword. “Stop trying to imitate the captain, dummy!” she scolded. Auruo rubbed at his head and made a ‘tch’ sound under his breath. He received another smack from Hanji for his comment on their shoes, which  _ ‘aren’t stupid and probably cost more than your entire paycheck, thank you very much!’ _

Gunther stared at the dragon, both hands holding his longsword in front of him. “Uh, guys, I think there’s something more important to pay attention to here—” he began.

The next moment the dragon lowered its head and exhaled a torrent of red-hot flames at the humans below, painting the courtyard bright with leaping tongues of scarlet and tangerine and sunflower-gold. The squad leaped backwards, putting a good chunk of distance between them and their reptilian adversary. Petra repelled as much of the fiery breath as she could with a shield of thick ice. Gunther and Auruo worked on getting as many loose stones they could find to Hanji, who used their bo staff to sling the aforementioned rocks back towards the dragon as mini projectiles.

Levi knew this was his chance to act while the dragon was preoccupied with what was in front of it. He would rather that his squad didn’t turn into freshly barbecued dragon chow because he took too long to make the decisive move.

He ran the last of the way across the rampart and leaped back up to the roof. The dragon didn’t turn around, busy trying to simultaneously attack the other humans and defend itself from the rocky missiles aimed at its wings. It was no longer belly-down on the broken roof tiles, which gave Levi the perfect opening. Its tail was still an issue, but at the moment the dragon was using it to break apart the other tiles and launch them back as a counterattack. It paid absolute no attention to him. Petra’s Stealth Mode spell was one of the most useful in her arsenal and Levi hadn’t bothered trying to count the number of times that particular spell had aided them in their missions.

The Royal Knight waited until the tail was on the other side of its body from its temporary blind spot, then dashed for the dragon's underbelly. He made sure the tip of his claymore didn't drag along the tiles. He had one shot at this and like hell he was gonna fuck this up when his squad was trying their hardest to keep the dragon distracted.

The dragon’s windy body heaved above him as he ducked between its hind legs and came to a stop directly underneath its soft underbelly. Here, the scales were smooth and colored a light, milky-gray. Its wickedly-sharp claws gripping tightly onto the remnants of the broken roof were much larger up close; each one was easily the length of his arm and then some.

Levi grimaced as he bent his arm back to swing. This wasn’t exactly the most ideal place to attack, in his opinion, because he would soon be covered in dragon blood and possibly other disgusting unmentionable bits, but the belly was pretty much every creature’s weak point.

He swung.

The keen edge of his claymore sliced through the soft scales like butter, but true to a mythical creature's reflexes, he was only able to carve partly through its left side before it violently flapped its wings and lifted off from the roof. Levi's sword slipped from its belly with a squelch, showering him in hot dragon blood, much to his revulsion. It steamed as it evaporated into the air.

The dragon let out a pained keen as it struggled to twist into the sky, slick red blood dripping from its wound. It looped around, its single crimson eye glaring down at the human that dared to perform a sneak attack on it. Levi tsked and hopped off the roof.

“Captain Levi!” His squad was dirty and tired, but they still greeted him with smiles on their faces.

“Good to see you’re still alive, midget,” Hanji said, grinning through the trail of blood sliding down the side of their face where a jagged piece of tile got through their defense. “Too bad you didn’t bring the big, bad dragon down with you!”

“Fuck off, Shitty Glasses.” Levi flipped them the bird with the hand that wasn’t holding onto his claymore. He looked skyward to see what the dragon was doing now.

It had flown up even further up into the sky, its great bat-like wings fully spread out. Its red and black coloring stood out against the baby-blue backdrop, light pinks and purples and oranges indicating that the sun was starting to set. They’d been fighting for longer than Levi had expected. He could tell his squad was starting to feel exhausted from the grueling battle, even with adrenaline thrumming through their bodies. He needed to end this soon, but how the fuck were they going to reach the dragon when it was all the way up—

Levi blinked, and very nearly missed the dragon fully stretching itself out, facing vertically downwards, and opening its mouth. Light began to gather in front of its open jaws.

_ “Motherfucker—!” _

He barely had time to signal his squad to get the hell back when the dragon unleashed a very thin, highly concentrated, blue and white laser beam at them, aiming for total annihilation. Petra tried to throw up a barrier to shield them from the ensuing explosion, but it was flimsy and shattered like glass on contact.

Levi was only aware of a deafening roar in his ears, the sensation of agonizing heat washing over him, and feeling his body slam into something solid before he blacked out.

 

000

 

When he came to, everything hurt.  _ Everything. _

Fuck, what happened?

He struggled to move. There was something heavy on his back, like a big chunk of stone. Debris? Oh fuck, that’s right, that shitstain of a lizard fired the fucking  _ mother _ of all trump cards at them: a goddamn laser beam. A fucking _ laser beam. _ Who the fuck comes into a fight expecting some Eastern-style dragon to unleash a laser beam on their asses when all the stories of old only talked about flames from Hell and vicious teeth and wicked claws that decimated whole armies? He would really like to leave this place and go knock that smug blond bastard on to his royal ass for sending him on this stupid mission in the first place. Shove his damn foot so far up Erwin’s ass that he’d choke on his own intestines. Seriously, fuck this place.

He attempted to lift himself up, but his muscles screamed in response and failed him. Levi bit down on his bottom lip when a sharp twinge of pain came from his ankle. Shit, something was broken, or at least sprained. He could barely keep up with the dragon when he was battle-ready; how the hell was he supposed to fight with a bad ankle? This day just kept on getting better, didn’t it.

As he laid in the rubble quietly cursing to himself, his ears picked up an unwelcome sound. There was a scrape of claws against stone, a frustrated hiss, a noise like scales dragging across loose rocks, and then the hunk of debris on top of him was shifted aside. Levi forced his eyes to open, and he blinked at the rubble in front of his face. Fuck, the dragon found him. And he couldn’t move to save himself, never mind where the hell his sword went.

There was a loud screech above him, then one of the dragon’s feet slammed down on top of him, crushing him into the stone. His chin met the stone with a hard smack. Levi was pretty sure he could taste blood in his mouth. Fucking gross. The curved claws rested threateningly around him, casting ominous shadows onto the debris. Levi craned his neck the best he could to glare up at the creature that now held him captive. The pastel colors of the coming sunset washed across the dragon’s scales, tinting them a soft, pale orange. The eye that Hanji had damaged seemed to have already healed, because both of the dragon’s crimson eyes were staring murderously down at him. Fuck.

He cast about desperately for something that he could possibly use to get out of this situation. He had no idea if any of the others were still alive, so he was on his own. Well, nothing new there, really. It wouldn’t be the first time he had fucked up on his own, but he’d always been able to make it through alive.

Getting crushed to a pulp by a one-ton dragon wasn’t anywhere near his bucket list of things to do before he died.

The dragon flexed the muscles in its leg, its claws cutting through the stone to curl around him in a vice-like grip. It lifted him up into the air, giving him a very clear view of the courtyard—what was left of it, anyway. It was mostly just a huge crater at this point. It took a lot of willpower for Levi to restrain the pained whimper that threatened to escape his mouth as the dragon’s claws squeezed around his body, crumbling the chainmail like tin foil and compressing his fragile ribs. His fingers scratched uselessly at the scaly appendages.

The dragon snarled at him, its hot, fetid breath washing over him and making his lip curl in revulsion.

“Disgusting,” he remarked coolly, as if he wasn’t staring his own death in the face. He was Levi fucking Ackerman, he wasn’t going down without a fight, and he was going to face death like a man, not as some blubbering fool who cried and wailed for someone to save them.

The dragon heard him, and boy, it was not pleased. It moved to eat him, but then something truly bizarre happened.

A foreign object came flying through the air and bounced off the back of the dragon’s head. It aborted the movement to bring him to its mouth, and both dragon and man looked down at the object in question with utter confusion. Levi wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating or not, because  _ what the actual fuck. _

It was a… a…

A slipper.

A fucking slipper.

Fluffy and forest-green, with two dangly pom-poms attached, and sparkly gold glitter scattered over the dyed faux fur.

For once, Levi was rendered completely speechless. Who in the ever-loving fuck would have the  _ balls _ to throw something as mundane as a fucking slipper at a mother-fucking dragon’s head? What kind of  _ suicidal idiot— _

“STOP!” an unfamiliar male voice yelled from somewhere to their left. Levi jerked in the dragon’s grip in surprise. Who the hell was that? He didn’t recognize the voice—he doubted there were other Legion Knights here because his squad was the only one Erwin sent on this mission.

The dragon seemed to know the owner of the voice though, because it immediately dropped Levi like a hot potato and half-crawled, half-flew over to an ivory tower that hadn’t been obliterated in its laser attack. Levi hit the ground with a muffled curse, because the impact made his body ache even more. Despite his protesting muscles, he rolled over and pushed himself to his feet. He gritted his teeth as his injured ankle sent sharp twinges of pain up his leg. Shit, he needed to find his sword. And where the rest of his companions were, if they were still…

The sight he saw when he looked up completely made the rest of his thoughts derail. The dragon was perched on the side of the tower, wrapped in a loose loop around it, its wings folded close to its back. The threatening scarlet coloring of its enraged mode had faded back to charcoal, its eyes once again a pearlescent silver rather than an angry blood-red. There was a stark contrast between its shiny black scales and the cream-white stones of the tower, which were both bathed in the pastel light of the setting sun. It was warbling at an open window, where Levi could make out a person scolding, actually  _ scolding _ , the dragon. He was holding the other green slipper in his hand and waving it about as he yelled something right into the creature’s enormous face.

Unbidden, Levi suddenly remembered the second part of the mission, the part about the supposed princess…

It was a guy. Dainty little princess trapped in a tower, his  _ ass. _ Levi was so done with this stupid mission.

The dragon waited until the man—the boy? Levi couldn’t really see his face clearly from the ground, but the guy’s voice sounded relatively young—ran out of steam, then huffed once. The strength of the air exhaled from its nostrils blew the young man’s hair back. He grumbled something uncomplimentary as he ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up and look artfully messy. The dragon then leaned in and flicked its dark, forked tongue out, licking a stripe up the man’s cheek. He reacted with a revolted shudder and lifted a sleeve of his tunic to wipe the saliva away, turning back to berate the dragon again. The giant lizard just tilted its head back to let out a strange, throaty, croaking noise.

Levi stared.

The dragon. Was.  _ Laughing. _

The knight tried his best to comprehend that this legendary fire-breathing terror with wings had just fucking laughed at a man who yelled in its face when Levi himself had only directly said one word to it and it tried to eat him.

What the fuck.

He forgot that his ankle was injured and he stumbled when it gave way beneath his weight. He hit the ground with a pained yelp that grabbed both the dragon’s and the man’s attention. The dragon immediately hissed at him, its wings opening up halfway, but it let out an indignant growl when the resident tower-dweller thwacked it on the snout with his other slipper.

“Stop it, Mikasa! Don’t antagonize the Royal Legion Knights, we talked about this!” the man shouted irately.

When the dragon chuffed at him, he crossed his arms and scowled, “No, you can’t eat them! You already did enough damage with that fucking laser that Armin and I specifically told you  _ not to use.” _

The great black dragon moaned apologetically, unwinding itself from the tower so it could press the entire length of its studded head against the man’s side, nearly sending him reeling over backwards. “Whoa! Hey, watch it!” He grabbed its twisted horns to steady himself. The dragon crooned at him until he rolled his eyes and reached out to give it a scratch beneath its chin. “Fine, you’re forgiven,” he said.

Levi really did not know what to make of this situation, but figured that he ought to be looking for his sword and his squad while the dragon was distracted. The guy in the tower might have stopped the beast from attacking him again, but that didn’t mean he was friendly or receptive to intruders. He braced himself for the pain as he struggled back to his feet again, hissing through gritted teeth as he put as much of his weight on his good leg as he could.

He probably looked a right mess at the moment, sweat-matted black hair slicked back, blood dripping from his chin and trickling down the side of his face from his collision with the rubble, his chainmail dented in places where the dragon squeezed him, and limping on one leg.

A quiet, hoarse whisper of his name stole his attention. When Levi turned around, Hanji tiredly waved at him from behind a small mound of debris. They looked almost as bad as he did, scrapes and bruises like a tapestry of pain across their face and hands. They were holding their left arm at an awkward angle; probably broken. The cursebreaker waved him over with their staff, beckoning him with some urgency.

Levi wasted no time dragging himself over to them. Hanji slipped around the rubble and led him to a small space that had been cleared of debris, where the rest of his squad laid. His heart stuttered in his chest when he saw how badly they had been injured in the laser attack.

“I had to put them under Stasis,” Hanji said beside him, laying a careful hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Levi. I did everything that I could, but they need the kind of medical treatment that we can’t give them right now.”

Shit,  _ shit. _ Fuck. Everything in this mission went so wrong so fast. His squad had been together for  _ years _ and all it took to fuck them up was one stupid lizard. Levi’s hands clenched into shaking fists.

The flap of wings above them sounded impossibly loud in the silence. Despite being unarmed, Levi pivoted on his heel to face the incoming threat with murder on his face, sweat in his hair, blood on his teeth, a cocktail of rage and frustration and guilt itching to be unleashed from his veins. His squad was on death’s door, because he had accepted this fucked up mission from Erwin, because some fire-breathing shitrag of a winged  _ snake _ had thought to snuff their lives out with an unholy weapon that it had no business using in the first place. Levi had no mercy and zero fucks left to give.

Except that instead of being greeted with a spray of hellfire and two thousand pounds of angry dragon descending on them, Levi came face to face with the man from the tower.  _ Fuck, he’s hot. _

Up close, the man was actually incredibly handsome. Tousled brown hair framed a set of large, inquisitive teal-green eyes that studied Levi with equal intensity. A thin golden circlet sat on top of his head, small birds and curling vines adorning the metal. He wore a dark-turquoise tunic trimmed with gold lace, the slight V-neck opening resting over his prominent collarbones. A swirling dragon curled majestically just over his right hip, disappearing behind the silky silver sash looped around his waist like a belt. His long, lean legs were clad in an obscenely skin-tight pair of black leggings, also sporting delicate golden leaf patterns around his ankles. He was taller than Levi by a few inches, too.

This man would have cut an impressive, dignified figure against the backdrop of the warm sunset and the ruins of the courtyard—if not for the fact that he was wearing the ridiculous fluffy slippers from earlier, one of which he had tossed at the back of a dragon’s head.

“Hi, I’m terribly sorry about the trouble that Mikasa gave you. She’s, uh, very protective of me,” the young man said, sheepishly rubbing at the back of his neck with one tan hand. Sweet Sina, even his regular voice was nice. He could feel Hanji’s shock and excitement warring on their face, shock that there was actually a person living here, excitement that there was a person  _ living _ here and they could have a chance to study him, the castle, the curse, and the dragon without further dangerous repercussions. “Um, I’m Eren. It’s nice to meet you, I guess?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry not sorry, but no worries, Levi Squad will not be dying here. Eren finally appears! And he's gorgeous, what's a Levi to do
> 
> Please leave a comment before you go~


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